


The Christmas Spirit Job

by kiss_me_cassie



Category: Leverage
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, NANA because seriously why do they have the tag GRANDMOTHER, Nate is a jerk, Santa Claus - Freeform, when she isn't?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:53:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21864772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiss_me_cassie/pseuds/kiss_me_cassie
Summary: Santa isn't a person; he's a feeling.
Comments: 18
Kudos: 33
Collections: 2019 Leverage Secret Santa Exchange





	The Christmas Spirit Job

**Author's Note:**

  * For [idkimoutofideas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/idkimoutofideas/gifts).



> For Mimi, who wanted the OT3 meeting Hardison's Nana/some of his siblings. I'm not sure this is so much that they're meeting Nana, but she's pretty prominent so I hope that's ok!
> 
> More thanks than I can ever give to Kim and Shen for the beta and handholding!

"Nate lied."

Eliot snorted and looked up from the batch of cookies he was icing just in time to see Parker flop dramatically onto the couch.

"That's not much of a surprise," he said.

Parker shot him one of her looks. The kind that indicated he was too much of an idiot to grasp such a simple concept. Which, when it came to Parker at least, was a pretty fair assessment. What was simple to her was usually pretty darn confusing and indecipherable to most other people. Regular people. People who were _not_ Parker. 

But this…. Well, this seemed pretty straight forward. Nate lied. It's what he did. Sometimes for the good of the cause and sometimes just because he was an ass. Didn't really matter why he lied. He just did.

And for some reason, it was bothering Parker today. 

Hardison, God bless him, looked like he was willing to take her up on all the whys and hows. Which was fine by Eliot. He wasn't sure he had the patience to deal with this particular Parker issue today. Besides, these cookies weren't gonna decorate themselves and somehow - _somehow _\- he'd been talked into making six dozen for Nana's church bake sale.__

__So basically, he figured Hardison owed him._ _

__"Tell ol' Hardison how Nate lied," Hardison said, as he hopped over the back of the couch to sit next to Parker._ _

__"He lied about Santa."_ _

__Eliot looked up sharply at that. Did she just say…_ _

__"He, uh, what now?" Hardison asked, his eyes darting to Eliot's in a panic._ _

__"Lied about Santa," Parker repeated._ _

__Yeah, that's what Eliot thought she'd said. He looked back at Hardison, who was still staring at him, and shrugged. Hardison frowned and then did a little helpless thing with his hands and dammit, but what exactly did Hardison expect him to say? He shrugged again and made a little gesture of his own with the hand that wasn't holding the piping bag. One that maybe wasn't quite as polite._ _

__"Uh… like, lied how?" Hardison asked cautiously, focusing on Parker again._ _

__She rolled her eyes. "I know what you're thinking. And it's not that I believe Santa's a real person. I know he's not. But Nate said Santa was nothing more than the feckless capitalist pawn of corporations who want to rake in more money by preying on innocent children's beliefs and parents' desires to one up each other."_ _

__Hardison frowned and then slowly nodded. "Ok, yeah. I gotcha."_ _

__She got that adorable hang-dog look on her face and Eliot sent up a little prayer of thanks that Hardison was dealing with this one instead of him. Because whenever Parker got like this, his first instinct was always to beat the shit out of whoever'd hurt her. Or made her doubt herself. And beating the shit out of Nate really wasn't an option at the moment, although he filed it away for later. At the very least, the man deserved a talking to._ _

__"He's not, is he?" Parker said, her voice soft and uncertain. "Santa isn't a sell out?"_ _

__Eliot studiously went back to piping icing on an elf, but he still kept most of his attention on the conversation. Let's see how Hardison explained this one away._ _

__He heard Hardison take a deep breath. "You know what my Nana always said? She said Santa isn't a person; he's a feeling. Or an act. An act of magic and giving and holiday spirit."_ _

__Eliot had to give Hardison credit. The man knew how to deflect like nobody's business. And now that he'd done most of the heavy lifting - and Eliot had gotten his anger at Nate a little bit under control by taking it out on the poor, helpless elf cookie - Eliot felt like maybe it was time to join in the conversation._ _

__"Exactly," he chimed in from his place in the kitchen._ _

__He scooped up some of the icing he'd been using with a mixing spoon, then set the bowl with the rest of it and the piping bag in the fridge. He came around the side of the couch and sat on the coffee table in front of the two of them, holding out the spoon to Parker, who grabbed it and instantly began licking the icing off the surface. Hardison shot him a dirty look but he ignored it. The man might be just as much of a sugar junky as Parker, but he wasn't the one having a crisis of faith right now._ _

__He focused his attention on Parker. "So maybe Santa does fuel parents' desire to buy their spawn all kinds of --"_ _

__"Ahem," Hardison interrupted with a heavy-handed cough. "I think what you're _trying_ to say is that while some parents may buy into corporate greed, _Santa_ doesn't. Because Santa is a feeling."_ _

__"Uh, yeah. That's exactly what I was trying to say," Eliot said grudgingly._ _

__"And most people - parents, kids, whoever - are not buying into that corporate greed," Hardison continued. "They are participating in the magic of Christmas."_ _

__Parker nodded and tapped the now clean spoon against her lips while she thought that over. "That makes sense."_ _

__"So you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna go to the mall and load up on toys and stuff for all kinds of kids: little kids, big kids, almost adult kids," Hardison said._ _

__"And then what?" Parker asked eagerly._ _

__"And then, when we box up the cookies for Nana's church, we'll take all those gifts with us and go play Santa," Eliot added, getting into the spirit of things. "Maybe even prove Nate wrong."_ _

__Parker's eyes lit up. "Can we do that?"_ _

__"Play Santa? Sure. Why not?" Hardison asked._ _

__"Well, not just _yet_ ," Eliot grumbled. "I've still got a few dozen cookies to decorate."_ _

__Hardison waved his concern away, which was easy for him, what with being Nana's most beloved grandson. Eliot didn't feel quite so confident._ _

__“After that then," Hardison said, grinning. "We're gonna steal us some Christmas Spirit."_ _

__\-----_ _

__"Alec! Oh, my baby, what a sight for sore eyes, especially in that natty Santa suit," Nana exclaimed, pulling him into a tight hug as soon as they walked through the church hall doors._ _

__Hardison squirmed a little within her embrace, and Eliot couldn't hide a smirk. Served him right, after coming up with this big, huge gesture. Not that Nana wouldn't have hugged him anyhow, but maybe not quite a effusively as she was right now._ _

__"Merry Christmas, Nana," he said, pulling away a little bit and giving her a kiss on the cheek._ _

__"And Eliot, my boy!" she said, transferring her attention from Hardison to him and squeezing him tight, despite the three large plastic containers he was holding. Somehow he managed not to drop them, and once Nana'd gotten her fill of hugging him, she moved on to Parker._ _

__"And Parker, sweetie! Oh my lord, it is so good to see you all," she said, pulling back from hugging her, too. She pinned Eliot with a fierce look. "Do you have my cookies?"_ _

__"Do I have your cookies? What kind of a question is that?" Eliot asked, grinning and presenting her with the large tupperware containers filled to the brim. "Of course I have your cookies. You think I'd dare show up without them? We've gotta show these church ladies what's what."_ _

__"And that's one of the many reasons I love you," Nana chuckled, happily accepting the containers from him. "You understand the importance of showing up Miss Bossy-Pants Jeanette by being voted best cookie baker at Saint Michael's for the fourth year in a row."_ _

__Eliot ducked his head, embarrassed by the warm flush he could feel coloring his cheeks._ _

__"And don't forget Ms. Millie either," Hardison reminded her._ _

__"Oh no, we won't," Nana agreed, nodding approvingly at him. "She deserves a setting down after what she tried to pull with this year's Thanksgiving baskets."_ _

__"Yes, she most certainly does," Hardison said._ _

__"Now I must ask," Nana said, looking all three of them up and down. "I understand it is the season and you've all come to help with the church's Christmas celebration, but why in the world are you all dressed up as Santa Claus?"_ _

__Eliot cleared his throat and elbowed Parker._ _

__"Parker?" Hardison prompted._ _

__She looked shyly at Nana. "We have something else for you. For all the kids at the church."_ _

__"Oh my, you do?" Nana asked._ _

__Parker nodded and dumped the big sack she'd been carrying over her shoulder at Nana's feet. That one sack was just a small portion of what they'd brought with them. The rest was still out in Lucille II; they'd nearly bought out the toy store at the mall. It had cost a fortune -- and they'd had to talk Parker out of the urge to steal it all instead of paying for it -- but it had been worth it just for this moment._ _

__Nana looked at the sack in confusion. "What is this?"_ _

__"Christmas," Parker exhaled excitedly. "And the magic of Santa."_ _

__Nana got all teary-eyed and thrust the cookies back at Eliot so she could pull Parker into another big hug. Eliot thought for sure Parker would protest at such a big show of affection, but she happily accepted it, and even wound her arms around Nana's ample body to return the hug._ _

__Another Christmas miracle._ _

__Eliot smiled. About damned time._ _


End file.
